Privacy Policy

Sortwell ("Sortwell," "we," "us," or "our") provides a service that automatically organizes a connected Gmail inbox by filing receipts, sweeping newsletters and notifications, and keeping real mail in view. This Privacy Policy explains what data we access, how and why we use it, how long we keep it, who we share it with, and the choices and controls you have.

Sortwell is a working name for a product currently in private beta. Gmail and Google are trademarks of Google LLC; Sortwell is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google.

1. Data we access

When you connect your Gmail account, you grant Sortwell access to your mailbox through Google's secure OAuth flow. We request only the scopes we need to do the one job of organizing your inbox:

We do not request the ability to send mail. The Gmail send scope (gmail.send) is never requested. Sortwell technically cannot send, reply to, or forward email on your behalf.

What we actually read and keep

To classify a message, Sortwell reads its sender, subject, Gmail labels and categories, and a short preview (snippet) of the message. We use this to decide where the message belongs.

• We do not store the contents (bodies) of your emails. Message bodies are read in the moment to make a sorting decision and are not retained in our systems.
• We do store lightweight metadata and operational records needed to run the service and to make every action reversible: for example, message identifiers, the labels we applied or removed, the time of an action, vendor and category names Sortwell has learned, and per-account settings.
• We store your account information (name, email address, Google account identifier) and, for paid plans, billing records held by our payment processor.

2. How we use your data

We use the data described above strictly to provide and improve the user-facing features of Sortwell:

• To classify and file your incoming and existing mail (receipts, vendors, newsletters, notifications) and to keep real mail in your inbox.
• To learn from how you file your own mail, so the service improves for your inbox over time. Learning is scoped to your account and is never pooled across customers.
• To let you preview, review, and one-click undo any action, and to produce your activity reports.
• To authenticate you, operate and secure the service, prevent abuse, provide support, and comply with the law.

We do not use your Google data for advertising, and we do not build advertising or marketing profiles from it.

3. AI processing of the uncertain tail

Most messages are sorted by deterministic rules that run entirely within Sortwell's own systems. Only for the ambiguous minority that rules cannot confidently classify does Sortwell call a third-party AI model as a tie-breaker.

The AI model we use is Anthropic's Claude (the Claude Haiku model), accessed through the Vercel AI Gateway. For each uncertain message, the only data sent to the model is a compact record containing:

• the sender name/address and its domain;
• the subject line;
• a short snippet of the message, truncated to roughly the first 200 characters; and
• the message's existing Gmail category labels.

The model returns only a routing suggestion (for example, "this looks like a vendor named Acme Supply" or "this is a newsletter"). It is never asked or able to delete, send, or otherwise act on your mail. If the AI call fails or returns nothing usable, the affected message is simply left in your inbox rather than guessed at.

4. Google API Services User Data Policy: Limited Use

In plain terms, this means:

• We use Google user data only to provide and improve the user-facing features of Sortwell that you can see and use (organizing your inbox).
• We do not transfer Google user data to others except as necessary to provide or improve those features, to comply with applicable law, or as part of a merger or acquisition with your explicit prior consent.
• We never use Google user data for serving advertisements of any kind.
• We do not allow humans to read your Google user data unless: (a) you give us specific consent (for example, to troubleshoot a support issue you raise); (b) it is necessary for security purposes, such as investigating abuse; or (c) we are required to by applicable law.
• We do not sell Google user data, and we do not use it to train generalized or third-party AI/ML models.

A focused summary of this commitment is also published on our Limited-use policy page.

5. What we never do

• We never permanently delete your mail. Sortwell only adds and removes labels; archiving simply removes the INBOX label. If you choose to teach it to send a specific sender to Trash, that adds Gmail's TRASH label and removes INBOX, which is recoverable for about 30 days in Gmail and one-click undoable in Sortwell. There is no permanent-delete capability, by design.
• We never send, reply to, or forward mail. We do not request the send scope, so it is not technically possible.
• We never sell or rent your personal data.
• We never use your mail to train AI models.

6. Storage & security

• Your Google OAuth token is stored envelope-encrypted using a per-tenant encryption key, so credentials are never held in plain text.
• Operational data lives in a managed PostgreSQL database (provided by Neon), encrypted in transit and at rest.
• Access to production systems is restricted and credentials are kept in a protected key store.

No method of transmission or storage is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable and appropriate measures to protect your data and we minimize what we collect in the first place.

7. Data retention

We keep your account information and operational records for as long as your account is active. When you delete your Sortwell account, we delete your associated data, including your stored OAuth token, learned vendor/category data, and operational records, within a reasonable period. When you revoke access from your Google Account, Sortwell can no longer access your mailbox; you can also delete your Sortwell account to remove the data we hold. Some records may be retained where required to comply with legal, tax, or accounting obligations, or to resolve disputes.

8. Sharing & subprocessors

We do not sell or share your personal data. We use a small set of trusted service providers (subprocessors) strictly to operate Sortwell. Each processes data only on our instructions and only to deliver the service:

If we add a payment processor for billing, it will appear here. We may also disclose information if required by law, to protect our rights or users' safety, or in connection with a merger or acquisition (with notice and consistent with the Limited Use commitments above).

9. Your rights & controls

• Revoke access anytime from your Google Account permissions page. This immediately cuts off Sortwell's access to your mailbox.
• Delete your account and data with one click from within Sortwell.
• Access, correct, or export your information, and object to or restrict certain processing, where applicable law (such as the GDPR or CCPA/CPRA) gives you those rights. Contact us to exercise them; we do not discriminate against you for doing so.
• Undo any action. Every organizing action is logged and reversible from within Sortwell.

10. Children

Sortwell is a business productivity tool and is not directed to children. It is not intended for anyone under 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children.

11. International data transfers

Sortwell and its service providers may process and store data in the United States and other countries. Where we transfer personal data across borders, we rely on appropriate safeguards as required by applicable law.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as the product evolves. When we make material changes, we will update the effective date above and, where appropriate, notify you. Continued use of Sortwell after an update means you accept the revised policy.

13. Contact

Questions about this policy or your data? Email us at privacy@sortwell.io. [Owner to confirm: legal entity name and mailing address, the contact email above, and a Data Protection Contact if required for your jurisdiction.]